BP posts 45% fall in annual profit
Oil giant BP has today posted a 45% fall to £8.75 billion in 2009-annual profit compared with the 2008 year.
Meanwhile profit for the fourth quarter of 2009 rose 33% to £2.16 billion ($3.45 billion) compared with the $2.59 billion posted a year earlier, as a result of the recovery in oil prices. However, the quarter four figures were lower than analysts expectations.
Oil prices plummeted in 2009 after hitting a peak of $147 set in July 2008.
The figures come just a day after Exxon Mobil, which is the world’s largest oil company, announced a 23% fall in fourth quarter profits.
Exxon reported profits of $6.05 billion (£3.8 billion) for the three months to December 31, compared with $7.82 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Fellow oil giants Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell will report their fourth quarter profits later this week.
Meanwhile, BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, described 2009 as a “very good” year for the company.
He added: “These results provide the clearest demonstration of the progress we have made and the momentum we have established in growing our business and making it more efficient.
“I am pleased at the track record we are building of delivering on our promises to shareholders,” said Mr Hayward.
Last year, BP embarked on a major cost-cutting exercise which saw it slash its workforce by 3,000 earlier in the year and a further 5,000 positions by the end of 2009.
Last June, the company announced the closure of its final-salary pension scheme to new members from April 2010, in a bid to further cut costs for the company.
The scheme currently has more than 60,000 members, with 12,000 staff paying in.
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